Figures
Homelessness Is Not Just a Housing Problem.
Homelessness is about more than rooflessness. A home is not just a physical space: it provides roots, identity, security, a sense of belonging and a place of emotional wellbeing." This quote comes from the UK charity Crisis, who warn that with the financial crisis the risk of homelessness for many people is closer than we have ever assumed. This month's editorial (PLoS Medicine Editors, e1000003) examines the health needs of the homeless, the under-representation of these problems in the medical literature, and the failure of social and health support systems to address them.
A systematic review and meta-analysis (Fazel et al. e225) published this month also examines some of these problems, showing that homeless people in Western countries have a higher prevalence of alcohol and drug dependence and mental disorders than the general population. A perspective (Herrman e237) discusses the study and the absence of interagency partnerships to address these complex needs.
Image Credit: Marc from Borft at flickr.com
Citation: (2008) PLoS Medicine Issue Image | Vol. 5(12) December 2008. PLoS Med 5(12): ev05.i12. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pmed.v05.i12
Published: December 30, 2008
Copyright: © 2008 Marc from Borft at flickr. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Homelessness is about more than rooflessness. A home is not just a physical space: it provides roots, identity, security, a sense of belonging and a place of emotional wellbeing." This quote comes from the UK charity Crisis, who warn that with the financial crisis the risk of homelessness for many people is closer than we have ever assumed. This month's editorial (PLoS Medicine Editors, e1000003) examines the health needs of the homeless, the under-representation of these problems in the medical literature, and the failure of social and health support systems to address them.
A systematic review and meta-analysis (Fazel et al. e225) published this month also examines some of these problems, showing that homeless people in Western countries have a higher prevalence of alcohol and drug dependence and mental disorders than the general population. A perspective (Herrman e237) discusses the study and the absence of interagency partnerships to address these complex needs.
Image Credit: Marc from Borft at flickr.com